I have many beans in my pantry, and the usual way they get eaten is through soup or some kind of goop with rice but the weather is heating up and the body wants something cooler, more refreshing. Bean salads are great for this, they are also amazing for clearing your pantry of the jarred vegetables you’ve been meaning to use. This recipe is very easy and really you can just throw other ingredients in with this and it will probably go well (don’t quote me). I won’t include measurements in these recipes, firstly because I don’t measure things when cooking, secondly, I think it’s important to develop culinary intuition, and thirdly I’m very lazy. In this bean salad I used dried lima beans I had soaked overnight.
thinly slice garlic and fry it in some olive oil, I also threw in some rosemary from my planter. In a large bowl I added the garlic oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, pepper, red pepper flakes and a bit of fresh olive oil (it has a different flavor before being cooked). Next, I added in the accoutrements (be creative here). One anchovy, a spoon of capers, chopped up sundried tomatoes, chopped kalamata olives, and some pureed sweet pepper I found at the farmer’s market. This is also a good place to include red onion (pickled or otherwise), some kind of pesto, jarred artichoke hearts, anything your bean salad heart desires. Finally, I grated in some fresh pecorino romano and left the dressing to settle while I cooked the beans.
cook the beans until no longer crunchy! It’s really that simple. Or use canned ones to make it even simpler. Cool them off after cooking in the fridge or run them under cold tap water.
stir everything together, wait 30 mins while it sits in the fridge.
eat it with crusty bread!